Dutch rider Mike Teunissen pipped Peter Sagan on the line to win stage one of the 2019 Tour de France in Brussels.
Local favourite Greg van Avermaet made an early impression, racing up the first categorised climb to ensure he will wear the famous polka dot jersey in Sunday's team time-trial.
Teunissen's Jumbo-Visma teammate Dylan Groenewegen crashed just before the final kilometre and looked in some discomfort. Follow it live:
Welcome along to our live coverage of the Grand Depart!
The Tour de France is getting under way right now in Brussels, with a flat stage which heads south out of the Belgian capital before sweeping west and back round to Brussels for a finish set up for the sprinters.
Geraint Thomas is back looking to defend his yellow jersey but faces stiff competition not least from his own teammate, Egan Bernal. Have a read of our race preview this morning:
Straight on to the front goes Greg van Avermaet, the Olympic road race champion who has had plenty of experience in the yellow jersey over the years and might just fancy himself another day in it tomorrow with victory this afternoon. He and three other riders have immediately escaped down the road and they have immediately built up a lead of 3min 20sec. I imagine the sprint teams will not let them get too far away though, given that this day is a perfect opportunity for some of the big sprinters. We will give you a run down of those candidates shortly.
With the man himself out in front, this seems like a good moment to point you in the direction of this excellent interview by Jonathan Liew with Greg van Avermaet ahead of this Tour de France. An understated but fascinating and hugely talented bike rider.
155km to go: That breakaway, led by Van Avermaet, continues to ride around 3min 30sec down the road. It's a nice lead to have but with only four guys there it is hard to see how they've got the power to really sustain a full-on assault on the stage victory.
Greg van Avermaet wins the first King of the Mountains points of this Tour de France in a ferocious sprint battle and it means he will wear the polka dot jersey tomorrow, in his native Belgium.
143km to go: Van Avermaet's work is done. He wanted to make sure he was wearing the polka dots in the team time trial tomorrow and he has ensured so, and now he sits rolls along waiting for the peloton to sweep him up.
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Wondering what's coming up for the riders this year? Wonder no more with our stage-by-stage guide...
120km to go: The breakaway of three riders – Berhane, Wurtz, Meurise – is now only 1min 20sec clera of the main peloton, and this has all the hallmarks of an excellent sprint stage finish with a slightly underwhelming jaunt around Belgium preceding it.
One of the biggest omissions from this Tour de France was Mark Cavendish, whose career haul of 30 stage wins were not enough to persuade Team Dimension Data to include him in the squad after struggling with the Epstein-Barr virus over the past two years. Cavendish felt he was ready to compete but Team principal Doug Ryder did not – something that has left a rift in the team.
Here's more:
100km to go
Almost halfway through this stage and the three-man breakaway has moved out again to around 2min 20sec. Still a managable gap and a long way to go, and I'm sure the sprinters will get their opportunity later to go head to head. Some of the key riders to look out for are the Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen, who rides for the very strong Jumbo-Visma and won a couple of stages last year; Elia Viviani, the Italian sprinter for Quick-Step who didn't pick up a single stage at the Giro and is under pressure to deliver here; Caleb Ewan, the Australian sprinter for Lotto-Soudal who did win at the Giro and looks in good shape to do so again in France; and Peter Sagan, because, well, it's Peter Sagan.
What is it really like to ride the Tour de France? The pain, the pressure, the boredom – we asked Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish, Simon Yates exactly that and heard some fascinating answers:
90km to go: The breakaway has slipped down to below two minutes in front of the peloton as riders from Jumba-Visma hit the front and work hard to keep the leading trio close. They want Dylan Groenewegen to have a tilt at the stage win, and George Bennett talked this week about how the team have been given clearly assigned roles so there is not potential for confusion or conflict. Despite his GC potential, Bennett is charged with helping Groenewegen in the opening days and their overall contender Steven Kruijswijk in the mountains, and he is easy to spot here digging in.
Some cobbles coming up for the peloton to navigate. There aren't many cobbles in the Tour de France this year, which will please the traditionalists, but Belgium does hold a few tricky sections.
Elia Viviani has a mechanical and stops to grab a new bike from his team car, and the Quick-Step sprinter is now having to work hard to get back into the fold as Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe up the pace as they set their sights on the intermediate sprint. He wants that record seventh green jersey. SEVEN!
67km to go: The cobbles has shaken up the peloton a little and those at the front have decided to slow the pace a little and bring the whole group back together again.
Peter Sagan sprints to take the first green jersey points of this Tour, and he will be back in that familiar shade tomorrow – and perhaps for the next three weeks.
40km to go: We're getting towards the business end of this stage, and Stéphane Rossetto, who I have to admit I know absolutely nothing about, has decided to escape up the road on his own. Not sure if he just fancies a moment in the spotlight or genuinely thinks he might be able to go and take this stage down with a solo break. If the latter, it's ballsy.
30km to go: So Stephane Rossetto, riding in his first Tour de France, is leading it right now, out in front by 1min 28sec from the peloton. Lotto-Soudal are the group working hardest at the front of the main group as they look to get Caleb Ewan in position for the sprint finish. Elia Viviani is in there and Peter Sagan is also well-placed near the front. I can only assume Dylan Groenewegen is too, and the Dutchman is my favourite to take this stage having clinched two last year in style.
25km to go: The safest place to be right now is up at the front of the peloton and all the big teams are trying to get themselves in there to avoid getting caught up in any sudden incidents which would now be very costly.
There are some fantastic photos from this opening stage around Belgium. Here's one a lovely one.
Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan could also feature in what will be a fiercely contested stage win and yellow jersey.
For the big GC riders like Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal (both Team Ineos), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain–Merida) and Jakob Fugslang (Astana), the priority will simply be to get through the day unscathed.
Here's everything you need to know about stage 1:
When does it start? The race starts at around 11.25am BST (12.25pm local time).
Odds: The favourite for the stage is Groenewegen (6/4) ahead of Viviani (3/1) and Ewan (4/1).
What is the route?A flat an opening stage which begins and ends in the Belgian capital via a loop south to Charleroi and west via Mur de Grammont.
